Author Blog

Lots of authors have us customize their books for their customers. I took some video today of Aaron applying some signed bookplates into a new title:

If I've spoken with you personally and haven't mentioned that we do this, I'll be sure to withhold my gold star for the week, but hopefully this will make up for it. Customizing a book is cool way to connect it with your audience. If you're going to speak to people, include something unique with the book so the event and your content are retained, heck even cherished, for a long time to come.

If you follow the words of the UK's Society of Authors, you can disregard the rest of this blog, and for that matter, your writing career. But, you're not cookbook authors, you're business authors, and your ideas, your reasons for writing, and what your writing propels, is much different than fiction authors, etc.

Whether or not the digital revolution effects books the way it has music is yet to be proven, but nonetheless, business ideas aren't going to die, you just have to be creative how to make a living at them. But isn't that the case already?

I'm sure all of us are familiar with stories like Chris Anderson and The Long Tail, but it seems like blog writers are continuing to capture the attention of literary agents through their daily posts. This recent New York Times article talks about how this trend has been increasing, and how agents are looking at numbers to validate their decision to push for publication. While the blogs they do mention aren't business related, it's a good lesson to learn from. Pitching your idea to an agent or editor is going to have much more credibility with daily readership numbers accompanying it. Blogs can be time consuming, but it might be worth the effort in the long run.

An article in today's Wall Street Journal talks about a new HarperCollins imprint that won't accept returns from retailers and won't pay authors advances. A spokesperson from the imprint states that the publisher won't likely attract authors who are used to getting advances, but will attract "major authors who have a book in the desk drawer that doesn't fit their image, as well as up-and-coming writers."

Similar to some facets of independent music publishing, this model is a great way for new authors to test their chances (and prove themselves) in the market. If their book takes off, imprints who do pay advances will talk to them. And of course this visibility and credibility is much stronger than if the authors chose to self-publish. After all, it's good to be connected to a publishing name like HarperCollins, even if it's through an imprint. Looking forward to hearing more about this "mystery imprint" as it develops.

Ok, I'm giddy over my new Flip Video, I'll admit it. But I'm hopefully putting it to productive use. Here's some more footage on customizing books for authors and their clients:

Grant McCracken has an interesting post at his blog about his conversation with a fluid writer who happens to work for a major corporation. What this conversation reveals to McCracken, is that business writing needs to learn a thing or two from literature, even citing a new business book that uses poetry within its pages.

He states, "What we want is a "management literature" that reads like literature. Why must our writers work for the corporation and write, like Wallace Stevens, as if in another life? Everything in the corporate world is now changing...why not this?" I agree. It could make some books more interesting beyond the first 15 pages, but more importantly, it would help us understand, process, and reflect on the material differently, which can't hurt. As business thought drives toward shorter content, this would also be a way to make a stronger case for writing a book in the first place, and potentially ensure your name on the shelves among the classics.

Even if that's not the case, literature is an important consideration. No matter what you're writing, reading books (all kinds) will help. If those non-business books start to have an effect on your content and delivery, it will set your style apart from your peers.

I'm surprised there aren't more contributions to the business genre portion of the WEbook site. As authors, it's likely that time is filled up by writing your own books and blogs, speaking, etc., and maybe non-fiction demands more direct payoff over fiction? However, take a look around the site, and you'll start to sense the community there. Readers chime in and offer thoughtful feedback to writing, and writer ratings get boosted. If not just for self promotion, there's certainly some personal benefits to contributing or starting your own project there.

If anyone has taken part in this, post a comment. It would be great to hear about the experience.

Might be interesting for authors to see which books sold over 100,000 copies in 2007. The list is below. Even more interesting, would be some insight into how each of these authors accomplished this. Authors, if you're reading, feel free to comment!

* The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss. Crown, (332,272 copies sold)

* Where Have All the Leaders Gone? by Lee Iacocca. Scribner (310,000 copies sold)

* Freakonomics [Revised and Expanded]: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. Morrow (275,000 copies sold)

* Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton. Free Press (239,966 copies sold)

* The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Random House (199,784 copies sold)

* Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath, Random House (161,053 copies sold)

* Go Put Your Strengths to Work: 6 Powerful Steps to Achieve Outstanding Performance by Marcus Buckingham. Free Press (140,574 copies sold)

* Basic Black: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work by Cathie Black. Crown Business (139,806 copies sold)

* What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful by Marshall Goldsmith with Mark Reiter. Hyperion (123,732 copies sold)

* The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't by Robert I. Sutton. Business Plus (115,954 copies sold)

* Talent Is Never Enough: Discover the Choices That Will Take You Beyond Your Talent by John C. Maxwell. Thomas Nelson (104,971 copies sold)

Some things stand the test of time, and Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba's blog had a great post in 2006 about the reasons a person should have to write a business book. Admittedly, they got some of their insight from the very first 8cr Pow Wow, but, with two books under their belts, they've had plenty of their own experience to base their ideas on. Be sure to read all the comments posted after the article for even more advice.

Dave Rendall published a manifesto at the ChangeThis site, and then reported in his blog the response that occurred around the world. We all know that blogs can spread messages, but this example just goes to show the importance of spreading your idea out and continuing to let it grow. However, wherever, and whatever you publish, keep it growing; keep telling people about it, and keep the idea exciting and alive.

Based on Dave's example, three things come to mind:

1. Get your idea published in other forums (ex. ChangeThis, magazines, newspapers, etc.).
2. Post about those other publications and your article there.
3. People like me will find out about it all and write about what was written, widening the footprint even further!